"Better Than Cats!" Neocons, Republicans and War Criminals Rave About Obama's 'Team of Rivals.'

12/31/2008 05:12 am ET
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Updated
May 25, 2011

Jeremy Scahill
Journalist; Author, 'Dirty Wars: The World Is A Battlefield'

As Barack Obama's opus, "Team of Rivals," continues its rolling debut, the early reviews are in and the "critics" are full of praise for the cast:

"[T]he new administration is off to a good start."--Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell.

"[S]uperb...the best of the Washington insiders...this will be a valedictocracy -- rule by those who graduate first in their high school classes."--David Brooks, conservative New York Times columnist

"[V]irtually perfect..."--Senator Joe Lieberman, former Democrat and John McCain's top surrogate in the 2008 campaign.

"[R]eassuring."--Karl Rove, "Bush's brain."

"I am gobsmacked by these appointments, most of which could just as easily have come from a President McCain...this all but puts an end to the 16-month timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, the unconditional summits with dictators, and other foolishness that once emanated from the Obama campaign...[Hillary] Clinton and [James] Steinberg at State should be powerful voices for 'neo-liberalism' which is not so different in many respects from 'neo-conservativism.'"--Max Boot, neoconservative activist, former McCain staffer.

"I see them as being sort of center-right of the Democratic party."--James Baker, former Secretary of State and the man who led the theft of the 2000 election.

"[S]urprising continuity on foreign policy between President Bush's second term and the incoming administration....certainly nothing that represents a drastic change in how Washington does business. The expectation is that Obama is set to continue the course set by Bush..."--Michael Goldfarb of the neoconservative Weekly Standard.

"I certainly applaud many of the appointments..."--Senator John McCain